TRAPS Act Creates Federal Task Force to Combat Spoofing, Payment Scams, and Digital Fraud

If you’ve ever been hit with a fake text message from your “bank” or had a scammer try to spoof your boss’s email, you know digital payment scams are a massive, costly headache. The Taskforce for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams Act (TRAPS Act) is the government’s new attempt to get serious about these evolving threats by creating a dedicated, high-level study group.

The Digital Neighborhood Watch: Who’s on the Case?

This isn’t just another government committee. Within 90 days, the Secretary of the Treasury must launch the Task Force on Payment Scams. This group is designed to be a digital neighborhood watch made up of people who actually understand how money moves today. It pulls together heavy hitters from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the FTC, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Reserve, ensuring federal coordination is tight. Crucially, it also includes experts from outside government: representatives from banks, credit unions, digital payment networks (think Venmo or Zelle), and, most importantly, up to five people who represent scam victims and support networks (SEC. 3).

The Mission: Finding the Weak Spots

The Task Force’s main job is to figure out why these scams are so effective and what works best to stop them. They are specifically directed to look at common scam tactics like spoofed calls, fake text messages, fraudulent online advertisements, and business email compromises (BECs)—the kind where a scammer pretends to be a vendor or your CEO to trick you into wiring money (SEC. 3).

For the average person, the biggest potential win here is the required focus on education. The Task Force must create a strategy for consumer educational programs, designed to teach people how to spot, avoid, and report these scams. If you’re busy juggling work and family, a clear, coordinated message from a high-level group could finally cut through the noise and give you the practical tips you need to protect your wallet.

Accountability and the Deadline

This group isn't meant to study forever. The clock starts ticking fast. Within one year of establishment, the Task Force must submit a comprehensive report to Congress and post it online for the public to see (SEC. 3). This report must detail their findings, the education strategy they developed, and—this is key—any recommendations for new laws or rules needed to strengthen defenses. They also have to figure out how law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels can better coordinate investigations and share data.

The TRAPS Act is essentially a formal acknowledgement that payment scams are a complex, cross-industry problem requiring a unified strategy. By forcing financial institutions, tech companies, and regulators into the same room with victim advocates, the bill aims to create actionable, real-world solutions rather than just more paperwork. The Task Force is set to wrap up three years after delivering that first major report, giving them a defined window to overhaul how the country fights back against digital fraud.